Children’s shorts, sized triple zero to age 14, are the byword of this new franchise concept, which although fresh to franchising has been trading for seven years and accrued more than 8,000 customers.

The acquisition — which is unconfirmed at this point — follows the rumors about Google being in talks to buy the popular local deals site, after Yahoo had failed to negotiate an acquisition for a $2 billion to $3 billion earlier this year.